Happy Earth Day to Me!

Happy Earth Day to me! Happy Earth Day, dear me-ee! Happy Earth Day to me!

Last night I finished typing up my last choreographic notation, and then emailed it to my professor. Also, Monday evening I completed my take home exam that's due tomorrow. So all my school assignments are DONE!!! Forever! Muhahahaha!

(Okay, so the distinct possibility exists that time will fade the relative misery of this last year of college, and that I will return in later years, but that's beside the point.)

So, this morning I went to school and picked up my portfolio from my teacher. (And I must say, it took a surprising amount of self control to refrain from skipping down the sidewalk and the hallway.) Then Tyson took me to see the Disney movie "Earth" on its opening day. I found the cinematography breathtaking. I kept whispering, "Wow!" throughout the film.

Then after the movie, we went out to eat at Olga's Kitchen and I had a three-cheese Olga - with just cheese, just the way I've ordered it since I was five. And I had a spinach pie and an orange cream cooler, and Tyson and I split an unexpectedly large order of snackers. I've never had an opportunity to have more snackers than I could eat. It was marvelous!

After being at home for a bit, I was feeling sleepy, and so I took a nap. What a wonderful treat! And after I woke up I went to the church to take Tye's yoga class to top off my day. It was just what my body and mind both needed. Who could ask for a better birthday? :D

You Just Never Know

I rented the costumes that I used in my senior project piece from U of M, and (I'll just call her) the costume mistress and I had set the return date as April 20th. Now, I don't know why I thought this, except for the fact that sometimes I clearly like to do dumb things, but I thought that after my final that afternoon, I was just supposed to just drop by and deliver the costumes. So, after my final the costumes were clean and dry and in my car, and I gave her a call to make sure it was a good time to stop by. ( I left a voicemail.) Then I swung by our apartment to review directions there from an old email. And lo and behold! She had emailed me! And she was NOT happy.

Part of her email read thus: "It's very unprofessional of you for me to have to contact you again about meeting your obligations. I will not be so willing to rent costumes to EMU students in the future."

:(

Clearly, I was supposed to have contacted her to set up a time to drop off the costumes. Which makes perfect sense, I still don't know why I would have thought otherwise. But does that really mean I'm an incomprehensible screw-up who has ruined her contact with all future Eastern students?

I felt absolutely rotten, and after a few sterile emails to set up a time the next day, I began to cry.

I was really afraid of the scowls and sharp remarks I might get when I dropped off the costumes in person. But I showed up at the appointed time and reservedly handed over the costumes. Much to my surprise, she was very pleasant and didn't seem even remotely irked with me. Just before I left, she commented cheerfully that the email she sent out to me was one of many such emails she'd had to send out yesterday, including some to her own students who were using costumes. "So," she said smiling, "if I sounded like a mom, I am!" I smiled and chuckled and left.

Sounded like a mom?! You sounded like to wanted to eat me for lunch!

I got into my car and shook my head. With a chuckle I asked no one in particular, "Really?" and drove home.

Where's Tonya Harding?

My knees were mysteriously starting to hurt somewhere around the beginning of January. The pain crept up so stealthily that I can't pinpoint when it began. Then, a week ago Saturday I insisted on trying to run on a treadmill at school even though my knees were mysteriously sore. Instead of a full hour of running/walking and making it a distance of 6 miles (I hoped), I managed 30 minutes of running/walking/hopping, and then just walked until I made 4 miles.

Now not only are my knees even more sore, but now I can't use them, either! Brilliant! Ha ha! Narf! Not my brightest moment, I admit. I just wanted to run off the stress so badly!

However, it has turned out to be a blessing from the Lord in disguise. Instead of spending my time dancing and running (and attending a weekend-intensive cross-training class), I've been able to choreograph quite a bit (utilizing a zen-like concentration and endless listening to the same bars of music), and even tidy up the apartment slightly. And so, I believe I'm actually significantly calmer now than I believe I would have been otherwise.

Still, I believe that my menisci may be inflamed, and/or that I might have chrondomalacia of my patella. Can anyone refer a good doc?

April Showers . . . Shouldn't Happen Indoors

Thursday night, or more appropriately, Friday morning, Tyson and I sprang out of bed at 1:00am to the sound of water running in our bathroom. I thought that maybe our sink or bathtub faucets had blown, but no, it was even better. Water was running through the vent on our bathroom ceiling (and later we discovered from the corner behind the door), and our floor was flooded. Tyson went to the apartment directly above us (several times) and knocked loudly on their door. He could hear them talking and laughing, but they wouldn't answer. Finally the emergency maintenance guy arrived around 3:00am and was eventually able to talk to them (although they wouldn't respond to him at first, either). After showing him their dry bathroom, I guess the woman finally 'fessed up to somehow running a bath and using the whole bathroom as her tub. (Frankly, I can't fathom what you could do that could send a steady stream of water into our bathroom for hours.)

Last night, just before I left for Becky's birthday dinner, I heard water dripping quickly onto the bathroom ceiling, and so I watched it carefully for as long as I could. When I returned later that evening, the paint was pulling away from the ceiling from the moisture, but has since returned to normal.

Next time, we'll be choosing the top floor apartment, thank you kindly. :)

Getting Back to the Pointe

So, after taking a month off of pointe and even ballet technique class because of some nifty tendonitis, I finally returned to technique class this week, and wore my point shoes for Tuesdays rehearsal! It made me oh-so-happy! Okay, and it make me oh-so-blistered, too, but the happiness wins.

The secret: I just tape my ankle to kingdom come and keep a steady stream of two Aleve in my system. It works!

For your viewing displeasure, I've included pictures of the current state of my feet. You can only see the darker marks, including the bruised scratch I gave myself with my own high heels during Thursday's rehearsal and the broken blister from wearing my pointe shoes during Tuesday's rehearsal. Enjoy! :D

Baby You Can Drive My Car

That is, if you know how to drive a manual without a clutch.

So, we knew that my car's clutch was going. She's been gradually slowing down for months now. But we hoped that she'd make it until we could have an opportunity to maybe take her to Utah and get her fixed for cheaper than we could here. Not so.

Last Saturday I was driving to church to sing a little number for the Relief Society Christmas workshop, and I was heading north on US-23. I was going 77 (yes, I know the speed limit is 70), and I couldn't get it to go any faster (yes, I was trying to go faster than that; don't read this, mom). Also, I was at 4,000 rpm. And then my car gradually just slowed on down. I managed to make it to the light at the end of the exit ramp, and somehow I made it down Plymouth and onto Green Rd. By that time, I was going my maximum speed of a whopping 20 mph, with the engine still at 4,000 rpm. I made it to the church parking lot and took the first space I saw.

Oh, my po' widdle cawr.

So, my wonderful Tyson made all the necessary arrangements and did a bunch of research and had it towed to a repair shop on Monday. We worked out week out on one car, and finally got it back Saturday afternoon - for the price of our firstborn child! Yikes!

How Springer Got Her Groove Back

Church! That is the answer! LOL! Okay, there is more to it than that. It's a combination of snuggling up to my husband while watching a movie Saturday night; reading my scriptures before I left for church this morning; feeling the Spirit there reassure me; being reminded that there is much more to life after my crazy teacher ruins my g.p.a.; having some great visit teaching and home teaching experiences; spending some quality time with my husband; and talking to my mum and big little bro on the phone. And suddenly I have energy! I'm laughing and happy and I feel better than I have in weeks!

I'd forgotten what it felt like to be happy. It is good. :)